


All Hallow's Evil

by Couyfish, Threshie



Category: Biohazard | Resident Evil (Gameverse)
Genre: AU, Bobbing for apples, Candy, Costumes, Drunken Confessions, F/M, Gay, Halloween, Holidays, Love Bites, M/M, Multi, Party, Pizza, Spin the Bottle, Tears
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-08
Updated: 2016-10-08
Packaged: 2018-08-20 07:22:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 20,089
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8241179
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Couyfish/pseuds/Couyfish, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Threshie/pseuds/Threshie
Summary: In a zombie-free alternate universe, Chris Redfield invites friends to a Halloween party to get his mind off of his mysterious new neighbor (and how attractive he is.) Drunkenness and romantic mishaps ensue.





	

“Well? What do you think?” Claire grinned, doing a little spin. She had just appeared around the kitchen door suddenly – a bowl of candy on her hip and in one of the most impractical outfits Chris had ever seen her wear. It was a vampire themed mini dress, complete with barely there corset, butt-length red cape and thigh highs sporting gaudy fake red gems on them. She held the candy out to him.

“Chuckles bar?”

Her brother reached to take the candy without really looking at her, dubiously glancing at the door to be sure nobody else was coming. 

"I think you plan to ambush somebody at the party. Anybody I should keep an eye out for?" 

His sister just smiled and shook her head. 

“Nope.” Dropping a candy bar into his hand, she turned and sat the bowl on the kitchen table to adjust her hair. “Anyone I should keep an eye out for?” She smiled slyly at him. “Say, an old partner?”

The doorbell rang loudly through the house before Chris could reply. Claire must have gotten a hold of it, because it sounded like a classic wolf howl.

His sister glanced at him, still trying to restrain a loose lock of hair. 

“Can you grab that? It's probably Rebecca.”

Scratching his head, Chris sighed and headed toward the front of the house. 

"Sure..." 

He wasn't even in costume yet, but it felt kind of ridiculous for a grown man to be dressing up for Halloween, anyway. Claire sure seemed to be enjoying herself, though. It was nice to see his sister so happy.

Opening the door, the brunette leaned out cautiously. What if it was trick-or-treaters already?

“Trick or treat. Did I miss the party?” Leon said in boredom. He gave Chris a little wave. The blond was dressed head to toe in a cowboy outfit, but it didn't look that cheap. He had a leather duster on with a red vest peeking out from underneath, a tall pair of black boots and fitted doeskin chaps over his usual jeans. On top of his head sat a nice black hat with a silver buckle and on his hip was what looked like a Red Nine replica. 

"Leon," Chris said, surprised to see him. Claire had seemed to think that Rebecca would arrive first. Stepping to the side, he held the door open and smiled. "Come on in, you're actually the first one here."

The blond man smiled and took off his hat, holding it against his chest. 

“Well, I'll be.” Stifling a yawn, he headed inside. “I saw that new neighbor of yours. He was out on his lawn...in the dark.” Leon ducked over by the window to peek out of the curtain. “Does he do that normally or is that a Halloween thing?”

Chris leaned out the door again to try and get a glimpse of the neighbor's yard, but Leon's car was parked in the way. Frowning, he ducked back inside and closed the door.

"Uh. Yeah, he's usually out at night. Maybe he works graveyard," he reasoned. That sounded so logical. It didn't explain why the man wore sunglasses in the middle of the night.

"...Anyway, Claire's just doing her hair. Have a seat," he added, gesturing to the couch with a smile.

Without hesitation, Leon plunked down and sat his hat aside.

“So, what's the plan? Claire's email said something about dunking for apples and strip poker.”

“And lots of drinks.” Claire added as she came into the room. She struck a pose and leaned back against the kitchen door frame, sticking her chest out. “Well hey there cowboy.”

Leon smiled and waved a hand.

“H-hey. Nice outfit.”

Chris coughed and made a beeline for the staircase. 

"I'm gonna go put my costume on..." 

Strip poker? He didn't want to play strip poker with his baby sister. Then again...better that he was around so anybody who tried anything didn't get very far. Not like they were inviting anybody they weren't friends with, but alcohol and skimpy outfits made people crazy!

...And also, he had no date, so he had nothing better to do than be all overprotective. Sigh.

When he came back down a few minutes later, Rebecca and her date had arrived. The intimidating muscular man was dressed normally in a tank top and jeans – save for the fake ax sticking out of his head. 

Rebecca struck quite a contrast beside him. The petite brunette was wearing long white robes with a hood and red patterns along the edges. She carried some kind of staff with a big green jewel on the top that matched her eyes...eyes that lit up as she caught sight of Chris. 

"Chris! Wow, look at you," she giggled. Chris resisted the urge to sigh heavily again. He'd had to wear some kind of costume for this party, so he'd gone to the party store and just grabbed something off of the rack: a firefighter costume, complete with bright yellow jacket, black boots, and a black hat. The costume was actually pretty fancy--it had even come with a big fire ax, which he'd dragged along with him downstairs. When else was he going to use it?

"Yours is more original," he told Rebecca sheepishly, slinging the ax over one shoulder. "Uh...what are you?"

"White mage," the brunette grinned, holding up her staff as if that clarified somehow.

"Ah."

There was a burst of giggles from outside just as the wolf door bell went off again. Leon looked up from where he was still perched on the couch and raised an eyebrow.

Claire hurried over to the door and opened it again, leaning out.

A second later she closed it and sighed.

“Great. The pranks have started.”

“Ah. Kids.” Leon said. He tucked his arm behind his neck and propped his hat over his face. “Wake me up when the coffee's ready...”

But there was another sound from outside – screaming. Kids screaming.

Claire glanced at the door and frowned.

Chris frowned, too, and headed over to pull the door open. If there were any kids out there egging the house, a guy with an ax showing up might make them think twice.

But all he saw were three kids booking it across the street, crying and screaming loudly.

They were running from his neighbor's house.

Leon peeked out the door too, smirking.

“That's karma for you.”

"Was he wearing a costume when you saw him?" Chris asked, raising an eyebrow at the retreating kids. 

Hopefully not. 

If he was wearing a costume, that meant he might show up to the obvious party going on next door. Or maybe that was wishful thinking, with the presence of strip poker and the fact that his neighbor, while eccentric, was a very attractive blond with the body of a god. Well, what was visible around all of the tight black leather he usually had on. Jesus. 

Doing an abrupt about-face, Chris hurried back inside. "Let's see about that apple bobbing game..."

Leon jumped back and slammed the door.

Turning around he cleared his throat.

“Coffee. You said something about coffee? That'd be in the kitchen, right?” He laughed nervously and ducked away into the kitchen.

Claire waved Billy after her. 

“Come help me with the barrel.” The brunette followed her with a shrug.

Chris stepped over to Claire's side, glancing back at the door uneasily like a certain somebody might come bursting through at any moment. 

"So...who else is showing up, Claire? I know Piers said he could make it."

There was an actual knock on the door before his sister could reply, so she headed over to open it again. She opened it over a crack and looked out.

“Hello – oh, hi! Um, can we help you?”

Chris only caught the last bit of the reply.

“...Threw it into your backyard.”

Claire sidestepped and opened the door, gesturing to Chris.

“This is actually my brother's house. Chris?”

Sure enough – it was the neighbor. He was dressed in nothing but a pair of loose coal gray pajama pants and black house slippers. His hair was slicked perfectly back in place and he had on his ever present sunglasses. It then occurred to Chris that he didn't actually know the man's name yet.

Hoping that he could disguise any redness on his face as being overheated in his fireman costume, Chris reluctantly stepped back over to the door, the ax still braced across one shoulder. This was the closest he'd even seen his neighbor, and he realized only now that the sunglasses were mirrored. Who knew where the guy was looking? Gulp.

He stuck out his free hand before he could think much more on the subject, clearing his throat. 

"Hi, I'm Chris. I don't think we've ever really introduced ourselves, Mr...?"

“Wesker.” The blond man said, taking Chris hand and shaking it firmly. He retrieved his hand quickly and stood straight again. “I need my pumpkins back.”

“They're apparently in the backyard.” Claire added helpfully.

"Uh..." Chris wanted to lean and look outside for himself, but that would mean leaning closer to Wesker, so he settled for craning his neck and blinking. 

"Wow. Little punks. Sorry about that--of course you can have them back." He turned and leaned the fire ax against the wall beside the door, gesturing out into the yard. "I'll help carry them, even." He prayed that the pumpkins were not broken into pieces after being lobbed over the fence...because that gave him no excuse to walk over to Wesker's front door and enjoy his shirtless presence for a few more moments.

Wow, had he really just even thought that? This was getting sad.

Wesker headed past him, slipping through the back door and disappearing into the yard. Claire watched him go and nudged Chris's arm with a smirk.

“Go help him with his pumpkins.”

Shooting her a look, the brunette sighed and followed Wesker. He'd already had to remind himself a couple of times that he wasn't wearing sunglasses, so the blond COULD see where he was looking. Eyes forward, he thought grimly, stepping down from the back porch and looking around for any sign of pumpkins. Hopefully not little pumpkin pieces, or pumpkin mush... 

To Wesker, he said as casually as possible, "Didn't realize you decorated over there." That would've been a good way to follow up with some mention of them having a party, but that was plain to see from passing through the house, so it seemed stupid to mention. So did asking about costumes. Chris was pretty sure Wesker was just in his pajamas, or what he wore as pajamas, but if he commented and it turned out to actually be a costume, boy would he feel dense. 

Nope. Silence was golden. Awkward, but golden.

Where were those damn pumpkins?

With all the spooky orange Halloween lantern lights overheard, the blond actually looked a little creepy in his shades. He had paused to wait for Chris, turning his reflective gaze on the big brunette.

“Just the pumpkins and the solar lights. And the barrel of candy.” The man said dully. “I hate children.”

"They threw a whole barrel over here?" Chris looked around the yard dubiously. "If it's any consolation, they don't live here. I think they're from that place on the corner down the block," he added, stepping over and kneeling to scoop up the spilled candy he'd spotted. There was indeed a small barrel there on the lawn laying on its side. Luckily the candies were in individual wrappers.

Wesker knelt and starting raking the candy into a small pile. 

“So, they are in our neighborhood.” The blond said bitterly, pausing to dust grass off of a Gershey's bar. “Down the block.”

"But not next door," Chris offered, placing a handful of candy into the little barrel. It had a few pieces of grass mixed in, but he was too distracted by trying to make semi-intelligent conversation while not staring at Wesker's well-toned torso to notice.

"So...you gonna stay up all night and guard your decorations, or...?" He had no idea where he was going with this. Ask Wesker to stick around at the party? Solve the mystery of whether he worked the graveyard shift? He'd decorated, maybe somebody was coming over who he decorated for... The blond didn't seem particularly in holiday spirits otherwise.

Then again, neither did Chris.

“I only put the decorations up to deter eggings. I don't particularly care if they are destroyed.” He suddenly looked at Chris, sitting up. “I simply didn't want to leave it for a complete stranger to clean up.”

Chris caught an ever so slight shiver as the man got to his feet. He dusted his knees and looked around. “Did you spot the pumpkins yet?”

Chris hastily glanced around, getting to his feet as well. He had in fact been far too distracted by Wesker to pay attention to much else, but he could hardly SAY that. Spotting a bit of orange down along the fence, the brunette hurried that way.

"What's left of them..."

Wesker stepped after him.

“Damn.” He knelt down and picked up a chunk of pumpkin, eyebrows lowering. Tossing it aside, he started searching through the bits for something.

"Sorry about that..." Chris pulled off his fireman hat to run his fingers through his hair, watching this. 

Why was he apologizing for the pumpkins being smashed? It wasn't like he'd had anything to do with it, except owning the yard they got lobbed into. Stepping closer, he leaned to try and get a better look at the orange pieces in the grass. "What're you looking for in there, the candles?"

That was his best guess.

There was a suspiciously long pause before the blond mumbled a reply.

“...Candy.”

He looked up at Chris, sunglasses glinting in the porch light.

“Are you actually a fireman?”

Glancing down at the hat he'd already forgotten he was holding, the brunette fidgeted a little and put it back on.

"Sorry, just a costume. I couldn't go without a costume at my own party." He shrugged, glancing down at the pumpkin pieces again awkwardly.

Wesker got up and nodded back to the house. He looked eerie in the low lighting – the orange Halloween lights over the back door casting long shadows across his pale face.

“I didn't mean to crash your party.” He gestured to the crushed pumpkin. “Do you have a garbage bag? I'll clean this up and go.”

"What? No, you don't need to do that," Chris protested, holding up a hand. "Just leave it, I'll clean it up later. My lawn, my rules." He smiled to show he was kidding, reaching to run his finger through his hair again and realizing the hat was in the way. Right. 

Gesturing to the house, the brunette added quickly, "You should come in for awhile, get away from the little punks out here. It's just a small get-together." He added a silent please and imagined crossing his fingers. Wesker didn't seem like much of a people person, but the pumpkin fiasco had given Chris a chance to talk to him finally. It would be tough to come up with another excuse later, except maybe a cheesy, 'how about that pumpkin fiasco, huh?'

“I'd hate to intrude.” The blond said flatly, taking one final glance at the pumpkin mess before starting back across the backyard. He paused by the door to look Chris over again. Holding out a hand to the taller man, he shivered again.

“Albert Wesker.” He adjusted his sunglasses. “Secret agent – for Halloween.”

Chris shook his hand, smiling. He even felt a bit cold. 

"Does Agent Wesker want to borrow a shirt, maybe? At least come inside, it's pretty chilly out here." He turned and stepped for the door, resisting the urge to tug the blond along by the hand. Instead he let go, bracing himself for whatever reaction Claire had to this development...and praying she didn't assume he'd ask Wesker out and talk about how long Chris had had an eye on him. Mostly praying.

“No thank you. I should be getting home. Those little bastards might come back.” That sly smirk returned as he stopped at Chris's side again. He didn't seem to be in a hurry to leave. “Now I have a reason to use the garden hose.”

Chris patted the chest of his fireman outfit, feigning a serious look. 

"Well, you can always call the fire department to lend a hand with that one." Too bad the costume had come with an ax instead of a fire hose. Maybe if he painted the garden hose yellow...

Actually, that would make it a lot easier to find out on the lawn. Why weren't garden hoses already yellow, or red? Realizing that he was just standing there with a hand on his chest, staring at Wesker, he coughed and waved for the blond to follow him. "C'mon, you have to come inside to get back to the front door--unless you plan to jump the fence."

“I hadn't planned on it.” Wesker said, following him inside.

Claire met them just inside of the door, smiling a very knowing smile. Leon joined her and tipped his hat in greeting.

“Did you find his pumpkins?”

Wesker nodded.

“They met their end unfortunately. Have a good evening.” He said briefly, stepping past her to open the front door. 

“You sure you don't want to stay?” Claire asked quickly, hurrying after him with a bowl of apples.

“No thank you.”

"He has to guard his house. The little punks are out in force," Chris explained quickly, shooting Wesker an apologetic smile. "Good luck on your mission, Agent Wesker."

Adding a tiny salute, Chris turned and hurried off to the other side of the room to save himself the awkwardness of listening to Wesker and Claire talk. He was pretty sure he'd already put his foot in his mouth a few times at this point, and Wesker--Albert? He didn't look like an Albert...--obviously just wanted to get out of there.

There was the sound of a car pulling up outside. Piers, probably. Thank god, they could talk about something nice and safe like work.

“Aww, come on.” Claire whined, blocking Wesker from leaving. She put on her best flirty smile and batted her eyes. “It's good to get to know your neighbors.”

Wesker took her gently by the shoulders and moved her aside, whispering something under his breath. But as he pulled open the door, he paused.

Piers blinked up at him, raising a hand to wave.

“Um, hi. I have the right house right? Is Chris here?” He leaned to the side and looked in.

“Piers!” Claire grinned – no doubt pleased that Wesker couldn't escape yet.

Chris turned and headed back to the door, resolving to try not to look at Wesker while he was over there. 

"Piers, nice of you to join us. Come on in," he smiled, waving for the little brunette to come inside. He couldn't get a good look at Piers' costume, but was sure he was wearing one. Piers did not do things halfway--if he committed to a Halloween party, he'd be in-costume.

Sort of the same reason Chris was in a costume, albeit reluctantly.

The small brunette grinned as he stepped in, chuckling at Chris's outfit. 

“Wow. Classic. I like it.” Piers blushed a little at seeing Claire's costume – but wisely didn't comment. He was dressed in brown leather jacket with a very nice tan uniform under it. It took Chris a moment to recognize it, but it was a old fashioned pilot's uniform complete with a little brown hat tucked under Piers' arm. 

“Oh yeah.” The brunette said, smiling and pulling on his little hat. He adjusted it and took a step back for Chris to look him over. “What do you think? I almost went with a chain psycho...”

Chris suddenly became aware that Wesker hadn't left. He was still standing by the door.

Trying not to look awkward, he gave Piers a thumbs up and smiled. 

"Sharp! Uniforms just really suit you. Speaking of that, you're never late usually. Trouble on the way here?" He chanced a covert glance at Wesker. Was he considering staying after all? 

The blond looked a little bored – from what Chris could tell – but he wasn't diving out the door either.

“Had to pick up Sherry – and her boyfriend.” Piers said with a shrug. He peeked over at Wesker too and raised an eyebrow, lowering his voice. “Man. That guy looks familiar.”

"She brought her boyfriend, huh," Chris said dubiously, glancing at the door. Sherry had been seeing the guy for a few months now, but she hadn't introduced him to Chris yet--or Leon, which was a lot more shocking. Leon was like an uncle to Sherry, and Claire like an aunt. It was a long story.

Gesturing to Wesker, the big brunette added under his breath, "That's my neighbor." 

“Sherry!” Claire said, hurrying over to give the little blond a hug.

Sherry was barely recognizable in her getup. It was a bloodied up wedding dress, complete with lumpy puncture marks on her neck. She was smiling brightly as Leon also came over to give her a hug.

“Hi guys! Sorry we're late.” She was saying. The little blond came over to Chris next, giving him a sideways hug. 

Raising an eyebrow, Chris smiled and hugged around her shoulders with one arm. 

"Wow, you're really decked out! Very spooky." 

He peeked at Wesker again, surprised he was still there. Maybe the visitors' costumes were amusing...or he really didn't want to go back out in the cold again yet. Chris wasn't about to get his hopes up and think Wesker was reconsidering accepting his invitation.

The blond was preoccupied, though--looking out the door. There was a young man standing on the porch, scowling at him. Judging by the elaborate high-collared costume and blood trickling from his mouth, he must have been Sherry's elusive boyfriend. That wasn't the startling part, though. The guy had very short red hair and a big scar on one cheek that may or may not have been part of his costume...but otherwise, he looked an awful lot like Wesker.

Wesker noticed too, crossing his arms over his chest and tensing visibly.

Sherry grabbed the redhead's hand and pulled him inside, closing the door behind him. She hugged his arm sweetly and patted a hand on his chest.

“Everyone, meet Jake.”

Claire cooed and offered the bowl of apples to the new guy with a smile. 

“Nice to meet you, Jake.”

Sherry giggled and gestured around the room, talking to her boyfriend.

“This is Leon, Claire, her brother Chris and...some guy in the corner.” She added sheepishly, leaning to look at Wesker.

Leon offered a hand and grinned.

“Howdy.”

"Wesker," Chris supplied, smiling sheepishly. "He's my neighbor."

Jake managed to shake Leon's hand before hearing that comment and scowling again, glancing over his shoulder at the blond.

"Oh, great, he lives here." Grumpily, he added to the room at large, "Hi, howdy, whatever. Sherry always talks about you people." 

With a growl, Wesker finally ducked out of the door – leaving it open behind him as he stomped off across the lawn in his pajamas.

Sherry glanced at the door opening but grabbed an apple instead. She pressed it into Jake's hand and then went to perch on the couch.

“So, when's the strip poker start?”

“After the alcohol.” Claire said happily.

Chris hurried over to the door, telling himself the rush was to close it, not to catch one last glimpse of Wesker's retreating pajama-clad backside. God, he was in trouble.

Returning to the group, he found Jake leaned against the wall, holding the apple and tossing it up and down idly. The others were...preparing the apple-bobbing barrel. The sooner the better for the alcohol, as far as he was concerned. It was bothering him that Jake and Wesker looked so much alike. That couldn't possibly be a coincidence, and they had definitely recognized each other, too.

"Hey Leon, maybe we should break out the coffee...and rum," Chris suggested, making a beeline for the kitchen. He'd rather not think about this at the moment.

Leon fell in beside him, looking around tiredly.

“If I drink, I'm gonna pass out on your couch.” He mumbled.

Rebecca and her boyfriend were in the kitchen. The tall man was poking through Chris's cabinets – the ax still sticking out of the top of his head. 

Leon propped an elbow on the counter and cleared his throat.

“So. Coffee.”

Reminded of the fire ax he'd left leaning by the door, Chris blinked and stepped over to the couple. 

"What do you need?" He asked, trying to sound polite and not accusing about a stranger poking through his cabinets. He didn't even know Rebecca's date's name yet--Wesker had interrupted their introduction.

“Shot glasses.” The dangerous looking man said, continuing his search. It was then that Chris noticed a huge tattoo down the man's right arm. It went from his shoulder to his wrist and looked very tribal. How in the hell had he missed that before? 

Probably because blonds seemed to be his type...and a certain blond had showed up shirtless on his doorstep right after this guy did. Or maybe the fake ax sticking out of the guy's head drew his eyes upward. Yeah, that could be it...

Stepping to the side, Chris pulled open a little corner cabinet and started taking down shot glasses. 

"Here you go. Didn't catch your name, by the way. I'm Chris," he said over his shoulder, kneeling to get some larger glasses out of a bottom cabinet. His kitchen was arranged oddly. The shot glasses and most other dishes rarely got used,because he didn't usually have this many people over at once.

“Billy.” The man said, standing up. He picked up a shot glass and examined it. 

Leon came over to them and started making coffee. Chris's coffee pot wasn't exactly fancy, but it worked like a charm.

“That Wesker guy looked really familiar. I think I've met him before.” 

"He lives next door, Leon," Chris sighed. "You've seen him before."

He was again reminded of how much Jake looked like his handsome next-door neighbor. Great, he'd have to be careful not to stare at Sherry's boyfriend. He would probably wonder about this until he learned more. Maybe Claire could run some intel...

No. This was stupid--it was better to just plain not be so nosy. Wesker hadn't exactly been excited to hang around over here, anyway. Done.

“No. Somewhere else.” Leon mumbled, scooping coffee. He paused and frowned. “I think he's a cop.”

Billy circled around the kitchen's island to hug an arm over Rebecca's shoulders. She had been very quiet since they arrived.

The petite woman was holding her cell phone, Chris realized. It was hard to see with her robe's bell sleeves, but she was texting someone. 

"I might have to call her and walk her through this," she told Billy quietly, looking dismayed at whatever the person was texting back.

Trying his best not to eavesdrop, Chris turned back to Leon, blinking. 

"Wesker?" That would explain why he was in such great shape...not that Chris was thinking about that. Nope. "Huh. It's possible." He shrugged, pulling some mugs down from the upper cabinet to prepare for the coffee.

Leon smiled at him and flipped the coffee maker on.

“It would explain why he's so built.” He added casually, glancing at Chris with a smirk. “Doesn't explain the sunglasses though.”

"Sunglasses? Oh, right." Chris glanced at the doorway to the living room. Lowering his voice, he admitted glumly, "Sunglasses are pretty odd for night-time, but I wasn't exactly looking at them."

Jake was probably related to him. This whole thing felt pointless knowing that the man was most likely straight and had a kid. Unless the redhead was his nephew or something. Hey, there was a glimmer of hope.

Leon just nodded – flinching as the wolf howling doorbell went off again.

“Er, anyone else invited?” He asked dubiously.

Chris was already heading into the living room to check the door. Unless somebody else had invited a friend, he didn't think there was anyone else showing up. Could it possibly be Wesker again? No, that was definitely wishful thinking...

The group in the living room had set up the apple-bobbing barrel, but so far nobody was playing the game. Someone had put the garden hose in the barrel and was filling it up. That was bound to be VERY cold...

Sherry and Claire were carefully placing apples into the swirling water, smiling and whispering to themselves. 

Piers was at the door, scooping up the candy bowl in one arm.

Right. It was probably trick-or-treaters.

Oh, right. It was Halloween, not just a party. Chris stood in the kitchen doorway and sneaked a glance at Jake. Were Wesker's eyes blue like his? If it was just looks, he could assume it was a coincidence, but they had pretty much glared daggers at each other, so...

Behind him, he heard Rebecca talking quietly. She must have been making that phone call after all. Medics never really clocked out. 

"What?" The flat, one-worded question snapped him out of his thoughts, and he realized that Jake had noticed his staring--and was looking irked about it.

"Huh? Sorry, spacing out," the brunette replied quickly, forcing a little laugh. "I better go get some of that coffee!" Spacing out wasn't entirely a lie...

Piers opened the door, but frowned.

“Do you want some candy or..?”

“No,” Came a familiar voice. “I came to clean up my pumpkins.”

With that, Piers sidestepped and Wesker came inside – now with a tight black undershirt on along with his pajamas. He started off to the backyard with a bag in hand.

Piers closed the door and watched him go.

Chris glanced back at Piers to verify that he was looking, too, and Chris was not imagining the whole thing. Jake, he noted, went right back to scowling and headed over to stand closer to Sherry. 

"It's fine, Piers," Chris told the small brunette, stepping into the hallway to grab a couple of things from the closet. This was probably the last chance he'd get to talk to Wesker any time soon, so foot in mouth or otherwise, he figured he'd better make the most of it. At least the blond has returned before he'd had anything to drink, or this could have gotten very embarrassing very fast.

The air was even colder than before when he stepped out onto the back porch, clicking on the flashlight he'd retrieved from the closet. "Hey," he called to Wesker, who was already over kneeling by the pumpkin pieces again. "You really don't have to do that, but if you insist, at least take this light."

Wesker looked up at him, shades glinting in the dark. He had raked up a lot of the pumpkin into the garbage bag that he had brought with him, and had it all over his hands.

“It would be hard to use when my hands are busy.” He slung some pumpkin off a hand pointedly. “Would you hold it for me?”

"Sure," Chris said as casually as he could, stepping closer and aiming the flashlight beam down at the lawn. Inwardly, he was chiding himself for being so damn happy that the blond would almost certainly have to stick around long enough to at least wash his hands before heading back home. This was getting kind of sad. It wasn't like he said anything when Wesker was there, anyway. Now was a prime example--he had his chance to talk, and nothing much was coming to mind that didn't sound idiotic or far too blatant.

"Hey, you're not a cop, are you?" Wow, how random did that sound? "My friend Leon thinks he's seen you before," Chris explained, trying not to get flustered. Flustered, really? If he was going to let himself get that pathetic it would've made more sense to do it when Wesker was shirtless so that could be the excuse...

The hot blond stood up suddenly, tilting his head curiously. He slung the pumpkin bag over his shoulder.

“Is that the cowboy? He took my Americano.”

"Uh...what?" Chris asked, unsure how else to respond. "Leon does love his coffee. You mean you met him at an espresso place?"

“We go to the same coffee shop. We ordered the same thing. He took mine because he was in a hurry.” Wesker's eyebrows lowered into a scowl. “I thought he looked familiar.”

"Wow, Leon," Chris said sheepishly. "Well, sorry about your latte." He paused, adding uncertainly, "Americano?" There was some crucial difference, he just wasn't sure exactly what. Chris usually just made drip coffee at home, and drank it black. 

“Yes. I like my coffee black.” Wesker stated. He looked around the yard, spotting the candy barrel and frowning. “I can't seem to find the...candles. Can I come back in the morning?”

Over candles? That seemed a little odd.

Not wanting to refuse another visit if Wesker wanted to come back, Chris shrugged and said, "Sure, of course." He glanced at the barrel, flicking the flashlight beam that way and back to the blond. "I can carry that if you want. You should wash your hands or you'll get it all covered in pumpkin." Which was painfully obvious. Saying that sounded kind of dense. Maybe he should just shut up now.

“If you carry that, your hands will be too busy – to open the door.” Wesker added, wiping a hand on his pants leg. 

"I could carry it up to the porch and sit it down to get the door," Chris said, already heading for the barrel. Wesker didn't seem to care that he was getting pumpkin goo all over his nice pajama pants, but Chris still felt strangely responsible for the destruction of the blond's decorations. If he'd planted ivy or something, the pumpkins would've have somewhere soft to land...

The barrel was definitely big enough to need two hands...which meant holding the penlight with his teeth. In his mouth. Trying very hard not to think about that much, Chris scooped up the barrel and started back for the porch. That rum was sounding better and better...

Wesker matched his pace easily and pulled the penlight out of Chris's mouth. 

“How do you know Jake?”

Startled, Chris looked at the light and then back to him--then turned and plunked the candy barrel down on the porch, trying not to blush. Damn it. 

"I don't," he replied honestly, turning back around and glancing at the door back inside. "I know Sherry--I guess he's her boyfriend. You guys obviously know each other..." He coughed, not wanting to assume anything. There was still a chance Jake was Wesker's nephew or something. 

“Yes, we do.” The blond shivered, adjusting his shades. “Get the door.” Promptly, Wesker stuck the penlight in his own mouth and picked up the barrel. He looked at Chris expectantly.

Well, so much for not getting pumpkin on the barrel...or Wesker's clothes, Chris had been far too distracted to notice if he wiped his other hand off or not.

Turning, he pulled the door open and held it for the blond. Great, he'd managed to answer without telling Chris anything about how he and Jake were related. The grumpy redhead wasn't likely to be much easier to ask...

Wesker went straight to the front door and waited there for Chris. 

Everyone was gathered in the living room to bob for apples. Leon currently had his face in the large wide set barrel trying to bite an apple, with both Claire and Sherry on either side of him cheering happily – and Piers timing with with his watch.

“Eight seconds left!” He yelled over the cheering.

Jake, Chris noted, was still leaned against the wall exactly where he'd been before. He was holding the apple Sherry had handed him, and had apparently been watching the apple-bobbing contest until Wesker came back inside. Now the redhead was eyeing him and right back to scowling again.

Closing the back door, Chris crossed the room and headed straight for Wesker. At least the party was fun for somebody. 

"Guess the party's getting started," he told the blond with a small smile. He wanted to retrieve his penlight, but just couldn't muster the courage to pluck it out of Wesker's mouth the way the blond had done when he had had it.

Wesker looked over at the party as Leon was rewarded with a kiss on the cheek from Claire. He hadn't gotten an apple, but no one seemed to care.

“My turn!” Sherry said, holding back her bloodstained veil. She scooted up to the barrel as Piers readied his watch again.

The blond next to Chris watched them for a moment, then turned back to the big man with a nod. He had managed to hold onto the bag of pumpkin mush and the barrel – despite his slippery hands.

Realizing he'd been just standing there when he should have been opening the front door, Chris hurriedly reached for the handle. 

"Right! Sorry, here..." He said hastily, holding the door open for the blond to get past him. "Uh...good luck defending the candy barrel from the hooligans." After Wesker went home, he was definitely going for the rum. Billy had already gotten to it from the look of that glass in his hand. Hopefully there was some left--that guy looked like he could handle a lot of liquor.

But Wesker didn't go charging out of the door as expected. Instead, he leaned closer – pinching the penlight between his teeth.

Chris looked from the mirrored shades to the penlight and back again, then carefully took hold of the light and pulled it away. The worst possible thing he could do would be to yank too hard and hurt Mr. Blond Secret Agent (Only For Halloween)'s teeth.

But the blond smirked suddenly, nodding. 

“Thank you. I'll see you in the morning.” He turned and ducked out of the door.

"Yeah. See you," Chris called after him, flustered. That smirk was dangerous. 

He shut the door before he could let himself stare too much more, glancing at the party going on across the room--and froze. Now that Wesker was gone, Jake had switched to staring at him, although with less of a scowl. Chris willed the guy to pay attention to his girlfriend already, and made a beeline for the kitchen. 

Rum was definitely in order.

\--

Several hours and quite a bit of rum later, Chris was realizing that alcohol didn't make thoughts of Wesker or his screwed up, non-existent love life go away. It just made it a lot more difficult not to talk about them. 

"Leon, what's an Americano?" The brunette asked his friend, turning sideways on the couch. They were both seated there a ways away from the rest of the party, most of whom were engaged in a loud, boast-filled game of strip poker. Luckily for Chris, his baby sister was a pro at poker, so she hadn't had to remove even a piece of her skimpy costume. Yet.

Struggling to wake up, Leon responded with a yawn. He had wisely decided not to go against Claire in poker and had abandoned his boots and duster on the coffee table long ago.

“It's...espresso. In water.” He rubbed his eye, taking off his cowboy hat to run a hand through his hair. He had been dozing while they sat there but looked just as tired as before. “Why?”

Recalling his conversation with Wesker on the lawn, Chris frowned and leaned an arm on the back of the couch. 

"Isn't espresso just coffee? How come it's not the same as what I make at home?" He paused, adding uncertainly, "And is a latte coffee...or espresso?"

Leon smiled sleepily.

“Lattes are like Americanos, only with milk. He told you that I stole his coffee, didn't he? Damn. I knew that was him.” The blond mumbled, sitting his hat back on. “I guess I owe him a coffee.”

"I wish I owed him a coffee," Chris mumbled, slumping on the couch. "I'd probably buy him the wrong kind, though. He's so gorgeous I can't think when he's around..." He groaned, putting a hand over his face. "He probably thinks I'm an idiot!"

Leon nodded slowly.

“Hey. Maybe he has a thing for idiots.” The blond man sat up and rummaged in his pockets. He pulled out his wallet and rummaged through it, offering Chris a five dollar bill. “Buy him a coffee for me.”

Feeling strangely touched (by emotion, although also by rum at this point), Chris took the bill from him and looked at it mournfully. 

"You're my best friend, Leon... It'll just be coffee, though. He's straight." He slumped again, and somehow managed to miss the back of the couch and wind up with his head on Leon's shoulder instead. That was actually surprisingly comfortable. He felt heavy, and didn't want to try moving.

Leon reached up and patted Chris's face gently.

“You thought both Piers and I were gay – so your gaydar sucks.” He chuckled, leaning his head on top of Chris's. “Maybe he's just really, really, really in the closet.”

"Nooo...look at that guy." Chris gestured vaguely toward Jake across the room with the five dollar bill, frowning. 

“He's cute.” Leon said, nodding a little. “A bit young for you and you know, with Sherry.”

"No--no," Chris mumbled, trying to sit up and not fall over in the process. He felt dizzy. Stupid rum. It could at least make him stop lusting after Wesker if it was gonna make him clumsy. "He's straight, 'cause that's his kid. Or nephew. But that'd be too lucky. I'm not lucky, Leon." He turned sad puppy eyes on his friend. "Nobody loves me. Romance doesn't happen to me."

Leon shrugged a shoulder.

“Hey. If I'm still single when I'm 40 – we might end up making out a lot.” He shrugged a shoulder and laid his head back down. “But you shouldn't give up on your neighbor. Gay guys can have kids too.”

Giving up on sitting up without swaying, Chris sank back down to lean against the back of the couch. 

"So I'm the backup plan? 'Cause if anybody's still single when you hit 40, it'd be Chris, right?" He sighed heavily. "He doesn't even like me, he just wants his candles back."

Leon frowned.

“Candies.”

"Really?" Chris blinked, holding up his hand and noticing the dollar bill still held in it with mild confusion. Right. Leon. Latte. No, wait, espresso. Americana? Something like that...

"He took a whole barrel of candy home already," he mumbled.

“Maybe it was candles.”

They were joined suddenly by Piers, crawling over Leon to settle on the far end of the couch. He was fully dressed in his costume and very sleepy looking. He smiled at Chris and waved.

“Goodnight.”

Leon reached over and patted the little brunette's shoulder.

“Night Piers.”

"Are people gonna sleep on the floor?" Reminded that the others were in the room, Chris looked over at the strip poker contest dubiously. The terms of the betting must have escalated at some point, because the game had narrowed down to just Claire and Jake with the others sitting in various states of undress on the sidelines, and Billy and Rebecca had dragged the apple-bobbing barrel closer for some reason.

"Loser gets soaked," Jake said, smirking. His smirk looked exactly like Wesker's. Sigh.

“Don't you own a bed?” Leon asked with a scowl. “And if you do – can I have it?”

“Hm.” Piers mumbled heavily, opening his eyes and sitting his head up. He stared at Chris and Leon for a long moment, then crawled over to lean on Leon's free shoulder like the other brunette. 

Leon blinked and stared at him, but didn't comment.

Chris turned to Leon, gesturing to Piers dizzily. 

"I don't know, the gaydar's still going off pretty bad around him," he said, poking Leon's shoulder with one finger. Then he noticed the five dollar bill he was holding and blinked at it. Oh, yeah. Coffee. Latte. No, the other one. 

Well, now he was sad again.

There was a splashing sound across the room, drawing their attention.

"Hey! No splashin' until one of us loses!" Jake protested, tossing a few cards at Billy and Rebecca. The little medic just giggled. 

Leon shrugged a shoulder.

“Then go to my coffee shop – I give you permission – and buy him a Americano, then--” 

“I'll bet it's because of me.” Piers said, sighing. “I keep dating girls and...and then we become friends. Because I don't want to h-have sex.” The little brunette explained sadly, hugging an arm over Leon's neck.

Leon raised an eyebrow.

“So...I'm cuddled up on the couch with TWO gay guys? Man. I need a girlfriend.”

Chris peeked around Leon over at Piers, patting his head--five dollar bill and all. 

"Hey, you probably just need to figure out your type. Mine's guys with blue eyes and blond hair." 

He paused and looked up at Leon thoughtfully.

Leon looked back at him, smiling a bit. He was pretty damn good looking – and he knew it.

“So. I'm not gay.” Piers concluded. He rubbed his forehead. “That's good. Everybody would just think I was because YOU are.”

“Whoa. Weren't you the designated driver?” Leon cut in, glancing at Piers again. The small brunette shrugged.

“Not anymore. I guess I could call a taxi...”

"There's a bunch of pillows in the hall closet," Chris said. That probably sounded random. It made perfect sense to him, though. "Could put 'em on the floor and sleep. Got blankets, too." 

He paused, Piers' comments finally sinking in, and frowned. "Wait...do people think you're with ME?" He sat up and looked at Piers around Leon. He hoped people didn't assume that. Did Wesker think that? No wonder he couldn't get a date.

“No – they think I'm straight.” Piers groaned, sitting up. He wobbled a bit but frowned. “I thought you guys thought I was too, but I guess it's not a surprise huh?” 

“I thought you were dating that girl...um. Michelle?”

“Rachel. And yeah, we're still together. She says I'm not gay – I just need to take things slow.” Piers growled, crawling over Leon's lap to get up. He made his way carefully and slowly to the hall, calling back over his shoulder. “In the tall closet or the ugly one?”

"Ugly," Chris called back, going back to leaning on Leon. He blinked, realizing that the poker game had been abandoned on the floor. Judging by the laughing and talking, everybody had gone into the kitchen to mix more drinks.

At least somebody was having fun.

“...He's gay.” Leon whispered. He glanced after Piers and then back to Chris, smirking. “I have an idea.”

The big brunette looked at him dubiously.

"If you're gonna say I should date him, it's a bad idea," he whispered back. "He's cute, but...uh. No."

Leon just laughed, giving Chris a rough pat on the shoulder. 

“Piers?” He sputtered. “No, no. You should just go over to your neighbor's house and ask to use his phone. Just say that we locked you out accidentally.” He explained proudly. “Then, when you call – I won't pick up. Bam. You guys have time to talk.”

Piers came back into the room and dumped a massive wad of blankets and pillows on the floor.

“We'd have to turn on loud music – or he'll just come over here and knock.” The little brunette said, dropping to his knees and spreading the bedding out into a large circle. It didn't even vaguely resemble a bed.

Chris looked at the messy pillow nest uncertainly. 

"Uh. It's my own house," he pointed out. "Why wouldn't I have the key? Maybe 'cause I'm in costume..." He looked down at his firefighter outfit, realizing he'd lost track of his hat and fire ax at some point.

There was laughing and chanting coming from the kitchen. Were they playing a drinking game in there?

Leon pushed on his shoulder in a unsuccessful attempt to move him.

“Just get your butt over there and pretend to be helpless and not as drunk as you are.” He insisted.

Piers snickered, flopping out on his back on the blankets. 

"Right now? No, no..." Chris groaned, putting a hand--and five dollar bill--over his face. "I already sounded dumb enough without the rum!"

“Rum?” Billy asked as he came out of the kitchen. He perched on the edge of the coffee table and smiled for once. “Think we're out now.” He air toasted his glass at Chris and took a long sip.

Leon patted Chris's chest.

“Come on! It's Halloween! The night to sleep with random people – or your neighbors!” 

“Or your best friend's sister.” Piers mumbled sleepily, hugging a pillow.

"Leon doesn't have a--" Chris sat up, frowning. "What? NO."

“Hey, hey. That's not what I was talking about.” Leon said defensively. “I just want my best friend here,” He patted Chris's cheek lovingly. “To find a hot guy to live happily ever after with. Or at least have a one night stand with. Whichever.”

Claire rejoined them too, a bottle of raspberry vodka under one arm and a liter of Pixie soda under the other. She perched on the table by the candy bowl – now in just her skirt, thigh highs and corset. The cape and heels had been lost in poker.

“Aw Leon. That's sweet.” She cooed.

Chris glanced at Leon and let the frown fade away, sighing and slumping his shoulders. Claire obviously dressed to get SOMEBODY'S attention, and she might be his little sister, but she was definitely an adult. It would just be so awkward if his best friend wound up with her.

"He just met me. He just wants his candles back," he said gloomily, of Wesker. 

Piers got up suddenly, beaming widely.

“Why don't you give him one of your pumpkins? There's four out there!”

“No! You can't break up the team.” Claire protested weakly, sitting her drinks down. “Capitano Americano and Steel Man have enough trust issues.”

“...What?” Billy asked, quirking an eyebrow. “Don't tell me you watch those movies.”

Claire shrugged a shoulder and sipped her glass.

"Decorations are for kids to see when they walk by. They love those characters," Chris said, frowning at the five dollar bill in his hand. "Americano" reminded him of the coffee conversation. Right.

He tried to imagine trekking over to Wesker's place with a jack-o-lantern and getting mysteriously locked out. There were worse plans...if it went horribly, he could blame the rum and claim to remember nothing. 

"...Could give him EagleEye."

Claire nodded.

“Yeah. No one likes him anyway.”

There was a gruesome sound as Billy pulled the fake ax out of his head. He sat it aside and picked on the mess of fake blood and glue in his hair. 

“That's the purple one, right?”

“Pumpkins are orange.” Piers stated.

Leon patted Chris's shoulder again. 

“Come on – you don't want his house to get egged.”

Pushing himself to his feet, Chris started toward the door, swaying a bit. 

"No I don't. EagleEye's the one with the crossbow," he added to Piers, stepping past him and making a beeline for the door. He had to leave right now or he'd probably talk himself out of it.

The air outside was crisp and cold, mist swirling away from the open door. It was a classic Halloween night with a brilliant full moon overhead, heavy shadows even under the streetlights and the whisper of the wind through the dry leaves.

The porch was like the threshold. It was glowing with lights and pumpkins – with the darkness just beyond.

Chris stepped up to the pumpkins, looking at them thoughtfully. Why hadn't the neighbor kids attacked them like they had with Wesker's? Maybe more people were trying to hook him up with the guy than he thought. 

The candles in the pumpkins were glowing warm and orange out of the carvings. He selected the EagleEye one and picked it up carefully, vague thoughts about round flashlights going through his head. 

The faint pumpkin-light cast a circle about five feet around as he started slowly for Wesker's yard, trying not to psych himself out of it. It was really cold out there. He'd forgotten his hat. Jeez, he should've brought his cell phone. If he changed his mind now and knocked on his own door, people were going to ignore him...

Wesker had strung the pumpkin lights back onto his porch at some point, because they were glowing when Chris arrived there. It felt kind of welcoming. Hopefully the blond wasn't outside half-dressed on his lawn like he'd been earlier...

There was the sudden sound of a shovel hitting dirt and rock. It was several meters off across the lawn. Chris glanced and caught the glimpse of a scene from a horror movie – well, that's what it looked like anyway.

The handsome blond was still dressed as he was before in pajama pants and an undershirt, but now he was sporting a pair of black gloves as well. And those shades.

He was hunched over the yard digging not one, but three small holes. They were around three feet tall and two feet wide. Laying off to the side were several leaf bags, each one only about half full. 

The blond stopped abruptly, shovel still in hand, looking up at his guest through those glinting mirrored sunglasses.

“...”

Chris froze, holding the glowing jack-o-lantern and wondering why in the world somebody would dig holes in their lawn just to get rid of leaves. Didn't it tear the grass up? Was he hiding a body?

Okay, maybe the Halloween atmosphere was going to his head. It wasn't like Wesker had done anything to imply that he was dangerous. 

"Hi," he said finally, looking down at the pumpkin. "I know your pumpkins got smashed up, so I thought maybe I'd give you one of mine."

Sticking the shovel into the ground, Wesker came over to him. He pulled off his gloves and tucked them under his arm, raising an eyebrow over his shades.

“And five dollars?”

"Huh?" Chris tilted his head, looking down at his hands. Leon's five dollar bill was still held in one hand, pressed against the side of the pumpkin. Oh, right. "Oh...yeah, that's for coffee. Here you go." He offered the jack-o-lantern and money, mustering a smile. He should probably explain that the coffee money was from Leon, and why, so Wesker didn't think Leon was a jerk. Maybe he should've started with that. How weird was it to go to your neighbor's yard and give him five bucks for coffee?

“Coffee?” The blond asked curiously, taking the pumpkin. He smiled in return. “Thank you for the pumpkin. I'll put it in the window where it will be safe.” Wesker patted it gently and started to his door, looking at Chris as he went.

Was that an invitation? 

Chris watched him for a moment, money still held in his hand, before uncertainly stepping after him. 

"I told Leon you took his coffee," he explained. "He wanted to make it right, so he told me to give this to you." Well, actually Leon had told Chris to take Wesker to get coffee on his behalf, but that didn't seem likely. Chris was already getting discouraged about this whole plan--especially the part about talking. He wasn't particularly good at small talk, especially not with somebody this distractingly handsome.

He bit his lip, praying he hadn't said that last part aloud. If not for needing to hand Wesker the money, he would've already done an about-face and started back for his porch.

Wesker stopped to open his door, stepping inside to sit the pumpkin down. He came back over and leaned on the door frame to look at Chris.

“Tell him that I will return his change.” The blond held out a hand to Chris, smirking.

There went the smirk. Jesus. 

Wordlessly, Chris pressed the five dollar bill into the blond's palm, taking note of how he still felt kind of cool to the touch, even now that he wasn't walking around out here shirtless. 

"I'll do that," he said finally, managing a smile before turning and hurrying back across the lawn. This was stupid. Now Wesker probably thought Leon wanted to go out with him... 

The brunette was so flustered that he didn't even have to fake being locked out--he grabbed the door handle and yanked, and only remembered the plan when the door didn't come open. 

Right. The plan. Leon meant well, but if he went back over there now, it would be too awkward to handle. 

Halfheartedly, he knocked on the front door, already knowing that nobody was going to open it. The wind was coming up out here, and it had a pretty chill edge to it. Maybe he could sit on the porch steps. Was freezing worse than awkwardly talking to his neighbor?

He knocked again, more loudly, chancing a peek over at Wesker's yard. The jack-o-lantern glowed warmly through the window by the front door.

The blond however, was right back to his...gardening? He was busy stomping the bags into the holes at that moment and luckily didn't look up at Chris.

For just a moment, it seemed like the front door might open – but then loud music started up inside.

Giving the door a defeated look, Chris tried the knob one more time for good measure. Not that it would open. Knowing Leon, he'd locked the back door and all the windows, too. His best friend seemed pretty intent on this plan working.

The plan required Chris to actually talk to Wesker, though--and he'd run off at the point where he'd stood any chance of being invited inside, so the best course of action was probably to sit out here on the porch until it got light out.

Chris did so, seating himself on the bottom step and watching Wesker doing...whatever he was doing over there. At least the view was nice out here.

At some point, Chris had dozed off. No thanks to the rum. It was a good thing that he was wearing a full fireman's outfit or he might have frozen.

The blond man was gone though.

By the time Chris's sleepy brain registered that fact, Wesker was standing over him, head tilted.

“Locked out?”

Chris looked up at him a bit sleepily, wondering if he was dreaming. He kind of hoped so--there were several nice directions that this could go.

"Looks like it," he replied, running a hand through his hair. "Left my keys in my jeans." He looked down at his firefighter costume.

“I see.” The blond said, looking at the door with suspicion. Wesker then offered a hand to him. 

“You'll freeze if you stay out here. Come inside. I'll make you some coffee.”

Chris grabbed his hand, surprised he'd offered. Yeah, this was probably just a nice dream. Might as well enjoy it. 

"I didn't wanna bother you--already did a few times tonight," he said, smiling apologetically.

“You didn't bother me – you brought me a pumpkin.” Wesker corrected. He led Chris back across to his lawn silently. The walk across the lawn was surreal. Was Wesker still holding his hand because he thought Chris would fall over without help, or...? 

"Yeah, but you looked busy over here," he said absently, glancing at the newly filled-in holes in the front lawn as they passed them on the way to the porch. 

The blond broke the spell and let go of Chris's hand, opening the front door. He gestured inside. 

“You said that you're locked out? You're welcome to use my phone.” 

"Thanks," Chris sighed, stepping past him into the house. He'd expected somebody with Wesker's dressing style to have a fancy place, maybe filled with leather sofas and old dark wood furniture, so it was a little surprising to see the big stack of brown boxes in the corner of the living room. There was a small futon in the middle of the big living room with a blanket draped over the back, and a rather tiny oval coffee table in front of it.

He stood there near the doorway, rubbing his hands together and looking around. "Uh...where is the phone?" Maybe Wesker had a cell phone. 

Wesker closed the door and stepped into the kitchen.

“I'll find it and plug it in in a moment. Coffee?” He asked smoothly, pulling two large coffee cups out of yet another brown box by the kitchen door.

"Coffee sounds great," Chris said sincerely, smiling at him. He wondered if Wesker made regular coffee at home, or that espresso Americana stuff.

He brought a hand up to rub his forehead, sighing. Wesker was way too classy for a regular guy like him. And he was probably straight, anyway. Why was he even over here?

Oh, right. Because Leon locked him out of his house.

Pressing a string of buttons on the sleek black coffee machine that dominated the counter, Wesker headed beck into the living room. He started silently digging through boxes – all still with his sunglasses on.

Did he live in those things?

Chris stepped over near the coffee maker and leaned a hand on the counter to keep from wobbling, watching the blond dig. 

"So, uh...where'd you move from?" He asked, trying to make safe yet intelligent conversation. Neither were really his specialty when rum was involved.

Wesker returned to plug in the phone, shrugging a shoulder.

“From the north. I had to relocate for work.” He poked at the phone for a moment and then offered it to Chris. “Are you actually a firefighter?”

"Are you really a secret agent?" Chris asked, turning to him. He smiled.

The blond reflected his smile. 

“Actually...yes.” The blond turned and hopped up on the counter, leaning to pour the coffee. “And I'm a virologist.” Sliding his shades off for once, Wesker looked over at Chris with striking blue eyes. Then he smiled again. “I'm afraid I don't have any rum, but would you like some salt?”

His eyes were blue? Just like Jake's. Chris stared, blinking. 

"Uh...salt...?"

Wesker matched the type he'd described to Leon to a T--blue-eyed and blond.

“Yes.” The blond picked up the salt shaker, tapping it lightly over each of their cups. “It counteracts the acidity.” He brought his cup up to his lips, blowing lightly on it and taking a slow sip. “It makes it smoother.”

Oh, great, his lips were distracting too. Smoother, huh. 

"Huh. Never tried that before," he managed, averting his eyes to his own coffee mug. It certainly smelled like good, strong, roasty home-made coffee. Better than the stuff he usually made. He picked up his mug and tried a sip.

"Wow, where do you get your coffee from? Don't tell me you brought it with you from the north." Hey, that was a whole two sentences that sounded intelligent. Coffee was a subject he could talk about with anybody.

“It's imported from a city called Raccoon.” The blond pulled the coffee bag out and scooted closer to show it to Chris. It had a cute little cartoon raccoon on the side, holding a red and white umbrella over its head. It said in bold red text 'Rainy Raccy's Big ol' Beans.'

Chris sipped the coffee, nodding absently. The cartoon was cute, but Wesker was far more interesting to look at. He leaned on the counter and smiled at the blond, admiring his blue eyes. If his type could be embodied in a person, blue-eyed blond in black leather who loved coffee was pretty much it...

"Well, it's great. I feel warmer already." 

“Good.” The blond said softly, sitting the coffee bag aside. He climbed down and gestured toward the living room. “If you don't want to use the phone, we can sit by the fireplace.”

Chris took a long sip of his coffee to give himself a moment to think. He really should try and call, at least, to hold up the whole plan to appear locked out. On the other hand, he didn't want to look like he was that eager to get away from Wesker.

Oh, who was he kidding? Hot blue-eyed blond invited him in, served him fresh-brewed coffee, and invited him to sit by the fireplace. Even if he was probably straight and had a son, Chris was determined to make the most of it now and blame it on the rum later if he did anything stupid.

"Fireplace? You know, I'm still kind of cold," he said, stepping after the blond with a sheepish smile. 

Wesker led him to the fire, flipping it on and taking a seat on the small stone hearth. He smiling up at the brunette, blue eyes twinkling in the firelight.

“So, tell me about your guests.”

Chris stepped over and sat his coffee on the shelf above the fire so he didn't spill it when he sat down. Even after his nap on the porch, the rum was definitely still affecting his balance.

Settling down beside Wesker, he sighed, "Well, they're a bunch of people I know and a few I don't, dressed up in costumes, drinking rum."

He paused, looking up at the coffee out of reach on the sill. He hadn't really thought that one out...

Wesker stood up and handed him his coffee, smirking. He took a seat again and continued.

“How do you know my son?”

Holding the coffee in both hands, Chris looked at it a bit glumly. So then it was confirmed, Jake wasn't conveniently Wesker's nephew.

"Oh...just met him tonight at the party," he admitted. Hadn't they already talked about this in the backyard? "He looks a lot like you." He looked at Wesker. "..." 

The blond's smile faded as he looked into his own coffee.

“...He hates me.” He said at last, looking up at Chris with those brilliant blue eyes. “We're not close.”

"I noticed you guys weren't exactly happy to see each other," Chris admitted. He really, really wanted to ask why, and if it had to do with Jake's mother, and where exactly Jake's mother WAS, but that seemed rude. "That's tough."

“Is the little blond his girlfriend?” Wesker asked, sipping on his coffee again. 

"Sherry? Yeah, she's a good friend of my sister's, too," Chris explained, sipping his coffee. "Like family, really." 

“The world is small.” Wesker mumbled softly, stirring his coffee. He paused for a moment and then sat the cup aside. “Are you still cold?”

Somehow, the answer to that question seemed important. Chris sat his cup down, too, rubbing his hands together experimentally. 

"Little bit," he admitted. "I sat down right after I gave you that pumpkin. How long was I sleeping out there?" He asked worriedly.

“About an hour.” The blond got up and pulled the blanket off of the back of the futon, returning to wrap it over Chris's shoulders. “You're welcome to stay here.” He offered softly, taking a seat next to the big brunette again.

Chris looked down at the blanket. 

"Sounds a lot better than my porch," he said, hugging the edges of it around his shoulders. "The others were pretty drunk, they probably won't even notice I'm gone 'til tomorrow."

He paused. "I don't wanna impose, though..." Did the pumpkin and five dollars count as payment?

“You could call, but it's late. If rum was involved, everyone's probably asleep by now.” Wesker said, sitting back down. 

He had a point. Piers had been falling asleep when Chris left, even. 

"Thanks," he sighed. "I'll stay, if that's really okay. I can just sleep on the floor, it's still better than the porch."

He picked up his coffee and sipped it again. It was probably the only reason HE was even still awake after all of that rum.

“Or you can join me on the futon. It's a little tight, but I think you'll fit.” The blond said, taking Chris's coffee cup and sitting it aside. He offered both his hands to help the brunette up. “And I don't mean that in a sexual way.” He added with a smirk.

Chris looked at him uncertainly and took the offered hands. 

"Oh, okay..." Good thing he'd clarified. Avoided embarrassing misunderstandings later... 

"If you're offering, I don't mind sharing the futon," he said, mustering a smile for the blond. God, his eyes were gorgeous. "Still sounds better than my porch out there in the cold."

Straining to try and help him to his feet, Wesker frowned.

“You're...very...heavy.” He stop trying and sighed. “You must really be a fireman.”

The look on his face was so...well, cute. Chris chuckled and pushed himself to his feet. 

"Air Force, Mr. Agent Wesker."

Wesker practically caught him as he wobbled, bracing a hand on his chest.

“I like the sound of that.” There they were – the blond's eyes locked on his. He tilted his head a little and smiled. “Come on. The futon's not that far.”

"It's practically right here," Chris replied quietly, staring back into those blue eyes. He put a hand over the one on his chest, blinking. If he didn't know better, he'd think Wesker was hitting on him. 

No, no, no. Wesker had a son, and he'd gone out of his way to clarify that they were sharing the futon to sleep and nothing more. He had to keep his hands to himself.

Ducking under his arm to support him, Wesker led him carefully – and slowly – around to sit on the futon.

For a little folding thing, the futon was surprisingly comfortable. Chris sank down into the cushion and sighed, leaning against the back. He looked up at Wesker and imagined that the blond sat down beside him, nestled up close to his side, and they shared the blanket. 

That sure sounded nice. They wouldn't even have to do anything but snuggle. Oh, god, he was going to grow old and die without having a long-term relationship ever again, wasn't he? Getting stuck on this unattainable guy probably wasn't helping.

Maybe he could get away with a kiss if he blamed the rum and swore he barely remembered it the next morning...

The blond did indeed sit down, relaxing back against the futon. 

“Is the brunette one yours? The one in the pilot's uniform?”

"Who...Piers?" Chris sighed, unable to keep the melancholy out of his voice. "No, he works with me. I've known him for years, though. Good kid."

Wesker raised an eyebrow.

“Is that bad?”

"What?" Chris looked at him confusedly. "No, he's great. I've only got my sister left, so I'm lucky I've got so many friends that are almost like family." Did that sound too pathetic? It was kind of pathetic.

“I'm an only child, my parents died long ago, I moved away from my close friend – and my son is estranged.” The blond said, scooting closer to Chris's end of the futon. He looked at the brunette with twinkling blue eyes. 

“That's...I'm sorry.” Chris turned and patted his shoulder sadly—and a bit clumsily. He missed on the first pat, his hand landing on Wesker's chest instead, but he reached further and got the shoulder the second time. “Sounds lonely. Look, if you ever wanna just come over and have coffee, you're welcome anytime.”

The blond smiled at him with surprising warmness and gave him a nod. 

“Likewise.” Wesker's blue eyes scanned over Chris's face slowly, curious and intelligent. “No offense, but you seem a little lonely yourself. Like you were the only one who didn't want to go to his own Halloween party.” He leaned back against the couch, running a hand lightly through his hair. “A little less after the rum, but still.”

Lonely? Great, Chris gave off that impression? And here he thought he'd at least managed to just come across as the slightly awkward but polite next-door neighbor.

"I don't really like parties," Chris admitted, leaning back on the futon with a small sigh. "It made my sister happy, though, so I did it anyway." God, this guy's eyes were so blue. And he was touching his hair now, too. Looked soft. Okay, "lonely" was probably pretty obvious...

With a smirk, the blond laid his head back against the couch.

“I have a sister. Step sister, actually.” He rolled his head over to look at Chris with those gorgeous eyes again. Then he smiled. “She despises me.”

Chris glanced at him, raising an eyebrow. 

"Like Jake does," he said. "Why? You don't seem like a bad guy."

The blond chuckled darkly. He carefully rearranged the blanket on Chris and then laid back on the futon again.

“It's...complicated.” He sighed and closed his eyes. “Maybe we can discuss it over coffee.” He peeked at Chris with one eye, smirking again. “Soon maybe?”

The blanket was surprisingly effective for such a small thing. It and the rum instantly worked to make Chris feel warm and heavy, and he could already feel himself drifting off. Damn it, why right this second?

"Yeah," he sighed, closing his eyes. "Coffee sounds great..." 

Before he could think of anything else to say, he was asleep.

\--

The music was loud, but once the knocking stopped – Leon turned it off. The blond man then curled back up on the couch and seemed to have fallen asleep. Everyone had settled – though not all in the living room. Claire had dragged Rebecca and her boyfriend off into the kitchen again.

That left Jake with his girlfriend, the sleeping cowboy and Sherry's roommate – Piers. It was a little weird that she was still sharing a house with another guy when she was dating him, but whatever.

Piers was laying on his back, playing with the little hat he had been wearing earlier in the night. He didn't seem threatening – other than being pretty damn cute.

Cute? Where the hell had that thought come from? Jake, who was sitting on the couch leaned back into the cushions, decided to blame the vodka. Or rum. Wait, no, the rum was all gone at this point. Whatever. Piers was short, like Sherry, and had big gray eyes, kind of like Sherry's blue ones. With lots of eyelashes. Whoa, LOTS of eyelashes now that he looked twice... 

He glanced at Sherry, who was poking at the remains of the card game from before, and frowned as he compared the two. Then back to Piers. No good, that kind of blurred everything.

"Hey, Sherry, c'mere a second..." He waved his girlfriend over, sitting up.

The blond looked up at him so suddenly, she tipped backwards a bit – then smiled brightly.

“Aww. You make a great prince.” She giggled, crawling on her hands and knees over. Almost ripping her skirt several times, she sat on her knees at Jake's feet and smiled up at him. “Are you here to rescue me?”

Wow, she was cute. Jake blinked and patted her head, smirking and leaning forward to get a better look at her eyes. 

"Oh, is that what ya dressed me up as?" He had a vague memory of being a vampire when this party started. Oh, well--he'd be a prince if that made Sherry happy.

“You're a vampire prince.” The blond explained, poking Jake's nose clumsily. “In your little ascot.” Sherry laughed and leaned against the couch, looking down at Piers. She smiled slowly and closed her eyes. “Do you think...” She trailed off in a mumble.

"Hey, this's my best ascot," Jake joked, playing with her hair. She'd lost her little wedding veil somewhere at some point, but even with all of the fake blood, she sure looked nice in a wedding gown.

Noticing her looking at Piers, the redhead glanced as well, and frowned. Oh, right. He'd called Sherry over here to compare a few things. "Hey, look at me a sec," he told the blond, examining her face thoughtfully. 

Sitting up with a lot of effort, Sherry looked up at him groggily.

“Would you turn Piers into a vampire? I-I mean, if we were real vampires and he was still living with us in o-our really big castle in Transl...Tra...Europe – would you turn him into a vampire for me?” She asked, big blue eyes staring up at him intently.

"What? Sure, easy," Jake replied promptly, waving a hand at Piers. "I mean, as long as ya don't turn around and dump me for the guy." He shot Piers a dubious look. Why was he cute? It was really starting to bother him. Guys weren't cute to him. Piers didn't look like a GIRL, though, definitely not...

“Jake,” Sherry said softly, placing a hand on his. “Vampires are forever – like us.” She smiled and sat up to kiss his cheek. With a wink, she got up and made her way very carefully over to Piers.

The little brunette looked up at her and waved a hand.

“Hey, Bride of Dracula.”

“Jake. Dracula's creepy.” Sherry said, plunking down in a poof of skirt layers. 

“Yeah.” Piers said knowingly. The little blond woman bent over him suddenly and he jumped. “What the heck are you doing? Your boyfriend's right there!” He said accusingly, holding Sherry at arm's length.

“I'm not kissing you!” Sherry said with a growl. “I'm biting your neck!”

Piers stared up at her with a frown.

“WHY?”

“I want you to live in our castle.” The blond said with a giggle, moving Piers' hand off her shoulder.

But Piers sat up crossed legged and shook his head.

“No more drinks for you – you're not actually a vampire!”

“Duh.” Sherry replied shortly, rolling her eyes.

Jake tilted his head, watching them. He couldn't decide if he should be worried or not. Sherry did just say they were forever, and sounded pretty damn sure of herself. Then she went over and paid attention to Piers instead, though. Huh...maybe it was a test or something. 

The redhead got to his feet and headed over to the two, placing a hand on the brunette's shoulder. 

"You're doin' it wrong," he smirked, moving Piers' pilot scarf away from his neck. Hey, if Sherry wanted him to bite Piers a little, he could do that. Could be a lot worse, right? At least he was cute. And Jake could blame the vodka later. Handy.

“No tag-teaming!” Piers protested, ducking away from Jake – right into Sherry's arms. She giggled and hugged him tightly. 

“Aw, okay.” The little blond said. “No biting him, Jake.” She said with a cute little frown. “He can just be a human pet.”

The brunette blushed deeply while Sherry petted his hair, keeping his eyes locked on Jake.

“I'm not a dog.”

The redhead laughed, sitting down on the floor next to them and leaning an arm on his knee. 

"I don't know, those are puppy eyes if I ever saw 'em." He paused and examined Piers' eyes for a moment, then Sherry's. Huh. Why was he a little bit disappointed that he didn't get to bite Piers? Maybe because it would've made Sherry happy. Yeah, he'd go with that.

“Ow!” Piers yelled, flinching away from Sherry. “Geez!” He rubbed his neck and checked his hand. “You better not have drawn blood...”

“Yay!” Sherry cheered – smothering Piers with a big hug to her chest. “Now we can sleep.” She let go of him and patted his cheek. “And you won't die during World War II.”

“Gee, thanks.” Piers said darkly, sinking back into the blanket and pillow nest.

"Sleep? We can sleep when we're dead," Jake said, flopping onto his back on the pillow-bed that had been made there. It kind of put him right up beside Piers, but whatever--the pillows were pretty comfy. 

He reached over and snagged Sherry's arm, pulling her down with him and hugging her. "Vampires stay up at night, babe. Why do you want this guy with us forever, anyway? Doesn't seem like much fun," he added drolly, jerking a thumb at Piers.

“He's funny – when you're not around.” Sherry replied, snuggling up against Jake's side. “He can cook delicious steak and he cheers me up when I fight with mom.” She added the last a little sadly, blinking big blue eyes up at the ceiling in thought.

"That's cute," Jake grumbled, vaguely annoyed that Piers got to do that stuff and not him. He couldn't be too annoyed, though, because he was also busy being impressed that Piers could cook. "I can cook too, you know." 

“Yeah.” Sherry sat up and leaned on Jake to look at Piers. “He can make dumplings!”

Also leaning on Jake like a table, Piers smiled back. 

“That actually sounds pretty good.”

"Shit, you're still awake?" Jake turned his head to look at the brunette, scowling. "Jesus, are you tired or not?"

“No?” Piers said dubiously, looking down at him. “I just don't want you guys taking chunks out of my neck because you're bored.”

Sherry petted Jake's head and sighed.

“How about we grab a bottle of vodka and then play a game? Winner kisses Leon.” She jerked a thumb at the snoring cowboy on the couch. 

Piers wrinkled his nose.

“Why don't we just bet candy?”

“The stakes wouldn't be high enough!” Sherry insisted. She rubbed her chin thoughtfully and then shrugged. “Okay, LOSER kisses Leon.”

“Pucker up.” Piers grinned, giving the blond girl a high five.

Jake looked at them dubiously. 

"Yeaaah...somebody's gonna regret that one." He sat up, smirking. "So what're we playing? There's a bottle right over there with the cards."

“Can we play spin the bottle?” Sherry asked with a giggle.

“Are you gonna kiss Leon if you lose?” Piers asked Jake quietly, gesturing across the room. “Or should we up the stakes?”

"I'm not plannin' to lose, so pick your poison," Jake replied, also quietly. There was the possibility that Sherry could lose, though; he didn't want her to do ANYTHING with Leon, not even kiss him. Not a chance in hell.

Sherry got up and picked up an empty bottle, dusting it off.

“You guys better pucker up! If I win, I want to see you two kiss!” She sat back down by the coffee table, sweeping the candy aside. She dumped out a small bag of N&Ns, sliding them into three little piles of ten. She sat the bottle on the floor and scratched her neck. “I don't actually know how to play Spin the Bottle...”

Piers crawled over and sat next to her.

“If I win, you have to kiss Leon.”

“Ew – and you're on.” The blond said with a grin.

"You don't place bets with Spin the Bottle," Jake snorted, scooting closer. He patted Sherry's back. "How about we go in a circle spinnin' it, and whoever it lands on loses a candy 'til there's none left. Person with candy left last decides what the losers do." 

Perfect--then he could decide NOT to have Sherry kiss Leon, just Piers. Or Piers would have to let Jake bite him. That could be fun.

“Deal.” The other two said in unison.

“You first.” Sherry told Piers, who reached and spun the bottle. It went a little sideways, but pointed straight at Jake.

With a grin, Sherry ate one of the tiny candies from Jake's pile.

"No goin' back, huh," the redhead said, shooting his pile of candy a worried look. A fake worried look, of course. This would be a cakewalk, he was pretty good at darts and other stuff while drunk so why not bottle spinning? 

Since there were three of them, he decided it was his turn next and spun the bottle. It spun for a long moment before settling slowly on...himself. Wow.

Piers ate the next candy, giving Jake a sly smile as he bent to spin the bottle himself.

Thankfully, it landed on Piers. Sherry plucked one of the candies off of the table and offered it to Jake.

“Okay, this is taking too long – two candies per round!”

"Okay, but when does the vodka come in?" Jake asked, pointing at the bottle they'd brought over as well. 

“Winner gets to decide.” Sherry said casually, spinning the bottle. It spin slowly and then stopped...on Piers again.

“Come on!” The little brunette pouted.

Jake decided not to comment on how Sherry had skipped over his turn, and spun the bottle. They probably didn't care which direction this game went in, either. 

The bottle again spun for a long moment, with a lot of momentum and a nice balance to it (if Jake did say so himself), before landing on...him. Again.

He scowled and shook a finger at the bottle. 

"Work with me, damn it."

Sherry happily picked up two more of his N&Ns and popped them into her mouth with a smile.

The brunette beside her also looked very smug when he spun the bottle again. It went a little sideways, stopped on Piers again. The gray eyed man glared at it darkly.

“Dammit.”

"Well aren't we full of ourselves," Jake smirked, claiming two of the brunette's candies. At least if Sherry won, he knew what she planned to make them do. Well, unless she thought of something else by then...

He turned to Sherry and gestured to the bottle in an 'after you' motion.

The blond woman spun it quickly – watching it intently. It slowly came to a stop, barely stopping in Jake's direction. Sherry stuck her hands up over her head.

“Woo hoo!”

Piers snickered behind her and handed her the candies.

“Well, well. Hope you like cowboys.”

Sherry glanced back at him and shook her head.

“No, if you guys lose – you're kissing each other.”

The brunette's cheeks flushed and he glanced at the bottle.

“Oh.”

"Hey, Piers could win," Jake said, patting the brunette's back. "You wouldn't make Sherry kiss Leon, though, right? He's like her uncle, it'd be creepy."

“I can't make her kiss YOU.” Piers said defensively. “I guess she could kiss me, but it'd be a little weird.”

Sherry just nodded thoughtfully.

He thought that would be weird? Jake wasn't going to argue with him. 

"True," he said thoughtfully, looking at Sherry. "Maybe you can make her watch something. Doesn't have to be kissing just because we're spinnin' a bottle."

He gave the bottle a spin, reminded that it was his turn. At two candies per turn, this was going way too fast. He felt bad for wishing Piers would lose, but hey, if it was him or Jake...

He scowled at the bottle. It was Jake it picked. Again.

"What the hell? Is this thing weighted?" He poked at the bottle.

“Nope.” Sherry said innocently, eating another couple of his candies.

Piers took a deep breath and spun the bottle. It finally landed on Sherry. The little brunette grabbed two of her N&Ns and ate them pointedly, smiling at her.

“Ah. The Queen has been dethroned.”

“You're going down!” Sherry replied with a grin, spinning the bottle again. The bottle slowed then inched along for a few second – landing on Piers. Sherry jumped to her feet and did a little happy dance. “Ha ha! I'm gonna win!” She sat down and leaned on Pier's shoulder. “Then you're gonna have to kiss Jake – aww! Poor baby.” 

“I still have three candies.” The brunette protested weakly.

"You make it sound like kissing me is a BAD thing," Jake grumbled, looking at the bottle. "Spin the damn thing, Piers, let's get this over with." He only had two candies left. It was like Russian roulette with N&Ns...

Piers spun it sadly, leaning back to watch it go. The bottle slowed then stopped – on Piers.

“Oh come on!” He yelled at it.

Sherry handed two candies to Jake with a big smile.

“Do you want to just surrender now?”

“Never.” The brunette said bitterly.

Grabbing the bottle, Sherry squeezed her eyes shut as she spun it.

“Come on, come on!”

"This thing just doesn't like me," Jake decided, scowling at the bottle that was now pointing right at him. He picked up his last two candies and ate them himself, put-out. Piers only had one candy left--no way did he beat Sherry. Right? Sherry wouldn't choose to kiss Leon, so it was all good.

“Instant death round!” Sherry said happily, offering the bottle to Jake. “Then we can have vodka.”

“Why does he get to spin? He's dead.” Piers said, reaching to take the bottle from Sherry. “I still have a chance at winning.”

"Amen," Jake agreed, snagging the vodka bottle. "C'mon, c'mon, somebody's gotta lose."

Piers sighed and spun the bottle. As it slowed, he groaned and made a little finger gun by his head. 

“Boom. Suicide.”

Taking the bottle of vodka from Jake, Sherry gestured to Piers.

“Kiss him so we can drink. The Queen of the bottle has spoken.” She said seriously, unscrewing the cap.

Blushing, Piers looked up at Jake with pale gray eyes. 

“You weighed that bottle, didn't you?”

Sherry shook her head and took a sip of vodka. 

Jake rubbed the back of his neck, glancing from Piers to his girlfriend. 

"...How about we have the vodka first?"

Biting Piers didn't sound as weird as kissing him, somehow. Why did Sherry want him to kiss somebody else, anyway? ...Even if it was somebody who was cute. Which was still weird.

Sherry reached across the table and grabbed a few glasses from the party, knocking candies skittering everywhere.

She clumsily poured the glasses full – which was a lot of vodka – and then scooted them to each of the men.

“To Halloween!” She toasted, sipping from the bottle instead of her glass. Piers glanced at her and then took a long sip from his own glass.

Jake toasted his girlfriend with his glass, taking a swig and shaking his head. She was drinking from the bottle? And these weren't exactly shot glasses, either. That was kind of a good thing, though--he was a lot happier to be here now than he'd been when they arrived. 

Sitting his glass on the coffee table half-finished, the redhead put on a serious face and turned to Piers, taking him by the shoulders. 

"Okay, let's get on with this. Better put your glass down first."

“I have a girlfriend.” Piers protested weakly – though he still sat his glass aside, Jake noted. “Does this count as cheating?” He glanced at Sherry, who just gave him a shrug.

“You could text her and tell her that you're kissing someone.” She offered with a tipsy giggle.

Piers raised an eyebrow at her, placing a hand on Jake's chest to keep him at a distance.

“Why don't we get you a glass first?”

He didn't seem very worried about his girlfriend...

Jake glanced over his shoulder at Sherry, too, frowning. 

"Yeah, drinkin' out of the bottle isn't a good idea when you're a half-pint." He noted that Piers was in no hurry to reach for his phone. "Listen, your girlfriend's worried about you kissin' other girls," he told the brunette. "Do I even count?"

Piers blinked up at him with those big gray eyes, cheeks flushing. 

“I think she'd be a little confused if I texted her asking if kissing another guy counted as cheating.”

“Oh stop being a baby!” Sherry said, leaning on the table. She smirked and pointed to Jake. “Kiss him.”

Piers flushed deeper, turning to Jake again and closing his eyes. He braced himself and took a breath. 

“Okay. Go.”

The little blond watching them and stifled a giggle.

Great, all eyes were on Jake. No pressure. He kind of wished he had drank the rest of his vodka. The first half of the glass was just starting to hit, though, and all of a sudden this whole thing felt more amusing than embarrassing. Aww, Piers looked really cute with his cheeks all red like that. Sherry's giggling was cute, too. Man. The cute people had him outnumbered.

"You're acting like it's gonna hurt," he told Piers, smirking and patting his cheek. "C'mon, relax, I'm not gonna bite you." Well...

Piers peeked at him with only one eye, frowning.

“That's what you said last time.”

"Hey, this's all Sherry," Jake said mildly, brushing his fingers over the little bit mark on Piers' neck. Wow, she really had left a mark. Okay, vodka was definitely kicking in, because he didn't mind that Sherry wanted to bite this guy. Who happened to be her roommate. He smirked. "Want me to kiss it better?"

“What the hell am I seeing?” Came a confused mumble from the couch. Leon sat up and took his hat off, combing his fingers through his hair. “I fall asleep for two minutes and everybody's kissing.”

“More like two hours.” Piers grumbled, retreating away from Jake around the coffee table. 

Sherry watched him go in disappointment. Then she frowned cutely over at Leon.

“Aw, you ruined it. It took forever to get them to that!”

“Sorry.” Leon mumbled.

"Hey..." Jake ignored Leon and followed Piers, holding up his hands in a shrug. "Okay, but if we don't kiss now we'll just have to do it later without the vodka. Sherry won't forget." He was a man of his word, and Sherry won. That was...totally the reason he was insisting.

Piers shoved his hands into the pockets of his pilot's jacket and shrugged a shoulder. He looked up at Jake shyly.

“Then kiss me.”

Jake stepped up in front of him, cupped his face in both hands, and kissed him full on the lips. The kiss tasted like vodka and chocolate--not a bad combo, actually. He sat back and smirked, turning to Sherry. 

"There, how's that?"

Sherry glanced up from where she was – on her back with Leon's hat in one hand and her phone in the other. It was pointed their way.

“Perfect! I texted a pic to Rachel!”

“You what?!” Piers yelled, hurrying over to snatch the phone away from her.

“Just kidding!” The blond snickered, bracing a hand on Leon's face to keep his hat away. “It's Halloween. I'm sure she's off doing worse.” It was then that he noticed that Sherry had a slight slur. She giggled and put the drunken cowboy's hat on, retreating across the room from him.

"Yeeeah...I think she's had enough," Jake commented, stepping up beside Piers and watching his girlfriend stroll off, swaying as she went. He paused, looking down at the brunette thoughtfully. "If Sherry texted me a picture of her kissin' another girl, I'd probably think it was a prank." 

Would that be cause for jealousy or not? Probably just cause to rush over there and keep anybody from taking advantage of the cute little blond while she was drunk.

Piers looked up at him shyly, avoiding his eyes.

“Y-yeah.” With that, he retreated back across the room to burrow into the blanket nest.

Leon helped Sherry over to the couch, allowing her to keep the hat. He was talking quietly to her.

“...Would you want them to kiss?”

The little blond looked up at Leon with a mischievous smile.

“Piers thinks he might be gay – I'm trying to help him sort it out.”

“With Jake?” Leon tilted his head.

“It's either that or a random guy in a bar.” She said dubiously.

“Uh huh.” The cowboy sat her down on the couch and patted her shoulder. “Why don't we just let Piers figure that one out on his own, okay? He can ask Chris for advice.”

Sherry curled up in a ball of fluffy white dress and smiled up at her long time friend. 

“He's my best friend though – and his girlfriend's a bimbo. She calls you Leroy!” She added with a giggle.

Jake had to snicker a bit at that. He made a beeline for the kitchen with the vague idea that there might be some apples left somewhere. Halfway there, though, he turned around and headed over to Piers' nest on the floor instead. Crouching by the blankets the brunette was burrowed under, he poked them with a fingertip. 

"Hey. Piers."

“What?” Came the grumpy reply. The blanket's moved and Piers's head poked out to squint at Jake. “More vodka?”

Even his grumpy face was cute. Jake snickered. 

"Is there any left?" It was rhetorical. He really wasn't about to suggest they drink some more. Honestly, he couldn't remember why he'd come over there. Something about apples? No, that wasn't right. 

He sat down on the floor next to Piers, glancing around. 

"Been with your girlfriend very long?"

The brunette shook his head.

“We just started dating because she needed someone to go make her ex jealous. I...have no idea why we're still together. She's okay with me being friends with Sherry, so that's cool I guess.” Piers shrugged a shoulder and looked up at Jake again. “Like you, Sherry and me. It's cool that you're okay with us being friends.” He smiled a little, laying on his back next to Jake.

"If I was gonna complain, it'd be about you livin' together," the redhead replied drolly. Laying down sounded nice; the room was a bit wobbly, anyway. He laid down on his back on the floor right beside the pillow bed rather than making Piers move to make room for him. Folding both arms up behind his head, he glanced at the little brunette and added, "Doesn't sound like your girlfriend's that serious about you."

Ouch. That sounded kind of harsh. From the sound of it, though...

Piers pulled his phone back out and poked at it for a moment, then frowned sadly. Maybe the blunt comment wasn't the best option.

“Better than being alone for the holidays.”

"Eh. I was alone for the holidays last year," Jake replied dismissively. "At least you've got friends to party with. Last Christmas I just stayed home and had a ham sandwich. Didn't even put a tree up." 

He frowned at the ceiling. Meeting Sherry had been a pretty huge improvement on life. Friends and family were non-existent last year, like they'd been every year since his mother died. That had to be at least five years back by now.

"...Damn, that means I have to shop this year," he realized.

“Spoiler – I'm getting you a gift card.” Piers mumbled, his eyes falling closed. But he suddenly sat back up, frowning down at Jake. “If we're friends by then. Otherwise, it's socks and a Christmas card.”

Jake turned his head to glance at him, raising an eyebrow.

"Hey, I like socks." Claire had already warned him how much his girlfriend loved the holiday season. He had no doubt that Sherry was going to drag them both into Christmas this year, whether either wanted to participate or not. Dating her OR being her roommate meant decking the halls, or else.

“Then I can't go wrong I guess.” Piers smiled warmly at him, laying back down. It was a little disarming to see. Those dark eyelashes and twinkling pale gray eyes...But he had a girlfriend. They both did.

He stared at Jake for a long moment. “...Was that really hot guy your dad?”

Jake stared at him for a moment before the words sunk in. 

"Who?" Remembering the blond man who had dropped by the party earlier and strolled around shirtless, he scowled. "Oh, HIM. Ugh." Hot? Really?

Piers raised raised an eyebrow at him, rolling over closer to look up at Jake intently.

“You guys look a lot alike if he isn't. Is he your uncle? Brother? Cousin?”

"If you wanna get technical, we're related," Jake grumbled. "But he stopped bein' my dad a long time ago. Didn't even show up to Mom's funeral. Bastard."

A gentle hand rested on Jake's shoulder and Piers looked at him very sadly.

“Sorry.”

"Forget it, let's just change the subject," Jake told him, sighing. He gestured to the brunette vaguely. "You know Chris, right? Seems like you know Sherry's friends better than I do."

“Known him forever.” Piers explained with a cute smile, laying his head right next to Jake's shoulder. “He's more like a father than my real dad is. He's so awesome.” The brunette said, grinning. “He used to be in the Air Force, but he retired so he knows all this bad ass stuff.” He snuggled his nose into the blankets and mumbled. “We go to the shooting range sometimes.”

"Oh, yeah?" Jake glanced down at him. "You shoot, huh? Sherry does, too. Claire taught her." He yawned and stretched an arm out over his head. "I gotta watch out for you cute short people, ya could pull a gun on me anytime..."

Leon was busy across the room helping Sherry drink a glass of water. They were still speaking quietly between themselves and looked to be in the middle of a very serious and heartfelt discussion. God knows what about.

“Pew.” Piers said quietly, poking Jake's side with a finger gun. 

Jake blinked at him. 

"Hey, careful. I'm not bad with a gun, either, you know," he replied, but distractedly. "Bein' all cute won't save you." He made a mental note to try and get Sherry to say some sound effects later. That was really cute. 

Piers looked up at him with a warm smile again.

“You just called me cute twice.” He whispered, blinking. “But I'll take you up on that. Let's have a double shooting date.”

"You are cute," Jake said matter-of-factly, folding his arm back up under his head with the other. He frowned. "And I only usually say that about girls." A pause, as the rest of the comment sank in, and then he furrowed his brows dubiously. "...Does your usin' girlfriend have to come along?"

“Using?” Piers echoed, smile fading. “Come on. Not you too. Sherry's said bad things, hasn't she?” He laid back and sighed. “She's not using me. We actually like each other...sort of.”

"YOU just said she's only with you to make some other guy jealous," Jake pointed out, yawning again. Maybe laying down had been a bad idea. He felt like he could fall asleep right here on the floor. He sat up on his elbows to try and wake up a bit. 

"And if I asked a guy if he was into his girlfriend, and he said 'sort of', I'd consider her free for the taking," he said drolly. "Jesus, there's either somethin' there or there isn't."

Piers glanced up at him dully.

“There isn't. Truth is,” He sat up on his elbows too, leaning practically into Jake before balancing. He looked up at the redhead and sighed. “She's out with her friend Jessica at some sexy themed party. She went as a zombie hunter.” He added. “This just sounded like more fun.”

Well, that answered Jake's next question. He leaned forward to free his hands, patting Piers' back a bit clumsily. 

"Listen, it's your life. I'm just sayin', when you'd rather party with your roommate than your girlfriend in her sexy Halloween costume..." He concluded the sentence with a pointed look.

Piers just nodded knowingly. 

“I just didn't want another single's Christmas, you know?” He looked up into Jake's eyes, eyebrows pinching sadly. “I don't want to eat that ham sandwich alone.”

He had the kind of sad eyes that made Jake want to hug him. Like a puppy. That and the memory of his very lonely Christmas last year were what made the redhead lean over and wrap an arm around Piers' shoulders. He squeezed the brunette in the one-armed hug, patting his shoulder with the other hand.

"Not gonna happen. You're gonna spend Christmas with me and Sherry and I'm gonna cook a real ham now that there's enough people to eat it."

Piers hugged him tightly in return, leaning his face against Jake's neck.

“You're awesome.”

There was an abrupt pause in conversation from across the room.

Okay, the hug he kind of expected, but the snuggling into the neck? Not so much. A bit bemused, Jake shifted to just plain hug him and patted his back. 

"Okay, okay...it's not a big deal." Though he had invited Piers, it wasn't like the guy would be alone if he hadn't. He lived with Sherry--those halls would be decked whether he liked it or not. 

Sherry... The redhead sneaked a sideways glance over at Leon and his girlfriend, finally noticing the silence. Well. This probably looked kind of weird...

Both blonds were watching them – and Sherry was frowning. It wasn't an angry look, just a mildly annoyed one.

Leon patted her shoulder gently.

“Come on. Chris isn't coming back tonight – you can have his bed.” He helped Sherry to her feet, hugging an arm around her waist to keep her upright.

“Okay, b-but don't make Piers sleep on the floor.”

“I won't, I won't.” Leon reassured her softly.

Jake raised an eyebrow at that exchange, watching them. Maybe Leon was pissed Piers had taken all of the pillows. Speaking of Piers, he was starting to think the guy had fallen asleep cuddled up against his neck, because he hadn't moved or made a sound since hugging Jake.

"Hey, where th' hell did Chris go, anyway?" He called to Sherry and Leon. He couldn't even recall when the big brunette had left.

The brunette in his arms flinched, sitting his head up so fast that he bumped Jake's chin. He blinked sleepily and looked around.

“Something about running low on candy.” Leon called back to him, already disappearing upstairs with Sherry.

Piers let go of Jake and rolled onto his stomach. He closed his eyes and sighed, hugging a wad of blankets under his head instead of one of the many pillows around him.

Jake sneaked a pillow from the side of the pile, tugging the edge of the blankets over the little brunette before climbing unsteadily to his feet. He had a feeling Leon would be back to give him an earful, for some reason. May as well go finish that glass of vodka on the table...

He got distracted by the time he reached the table, spotting one of the apples that had rolled underneath the edge. Apple AND vodka--even better. 

Leon did return, but he didn't talk to Jake. He knelt down and picked Piers up under the arms, hauling him to the couch. He dragged the smaller man's feet up and then proceeded to take off Piers's shoes and jacket. Piers looked up at him sleepily.

“Are we gonna have sex?”

Leon sputtered and shook his head.

“No. Just get some sleep.” He retrieved a blanket from the floor and spread it over Piers. “Goodnight.”

“Night.” The brunette mumbled, hugging an arm over the blanket and closing his eyes.

"Probably should've had some water, but what the hell," Jake commented from halfway across the room, leaning on the table and munching on the apple. He was one to talk; he'd finished off his vodka before Leon got back. Now that he stood up and moved around, sleeping sounded boring. Leon didn't seem tired. Maybe they could get in a drunken fistfight or something fun like that.

“Yeah. He's going to be really hung over tomorrow.” Leon sighed, taking a seat across the coffee table from Jake. He picked up a couple of loose candies and ate them, scanning over the messy table top. He suddenly glanced up at Jake and shrugged. “You could wake him up and give him some water.”

"Yeah..." Jake squinted at him for a long moment. Leon was looking a bit fuzzy, but otherwise every hair was in place. As usual, apparently. He sat the apple on the table and turned to lean back on it with both hands. 

"Okay, c'mon, spit it out. Why did Sherry look so annoyed? Did I do that?"

“Oh that? No, she's just very drunk.” The blond said casually. He slowly placed another candy in his mouth, watching Jake intently.

The redhead arched an eyebrow, not batting an eye. 

"Yeah, right. She's a happy drunk--you saw her earlier when she stole your hat," he said dryly. "Didn't look upset 'til she talked to YOU." 

Cue a suspicious look.

Leon shrugged. 

“She had to get some stuff off of her chest. I'm sure she'll feel better in the morning.” He ran a hand through his hair lightly. “Do you think any pizza places are open this late?”

Oh, great. So if something was bothering Sherry, she apparently wouldn't tell Jake about it. He was still very curious what this was about, but it didn't seem like Leon was going to tell him.

"I'm pretty sure I saw a 24-hour pizza magnet on Chris's fridge," he offered, gesturing vaguely toward the kitchen. "Fast food people never get holidays off." He glanced at Piers, wondering if he really should wake the guy up and give him some water. That was a lot of vodka, he was bound to get a hangover either way...

“Okay. You handle him,” Leon gestured to the sleeping man. “And I'll order the pizza.” With that, he got up and headed into the kitchen.

Well, that took care of that decision. Jake headed after the blond, though. 

"Pepperoni and mushrooms," he suggested, rinsing his vodka glass before filling it from the faucet. "Or canadian bacon and pineapple. No pepperoni and pineapple, though. Yuck."

“Kay.” Leon said over his shoulder.

Billy and his girlfriend were sleeping at the kitchen table, the cute little brunette tucked safely under her muscular boyfriend's arm. Chris's sister was sleeping on the counter happily with her cape as a pillow. None of them stirred when Leon or Jake came in.

The blond man dialed the number on the little pizza shaped magnet and waited.

Jake took the glass of water and headed back to Piers in the living room. He grabbed the brunette's shoulder and shook him lightly, sloshing the water that was now balanced in one hand. A few drops made it to the carpet.

"Whoops... Hey. Piers."

The brunette lifted his head and looked at Jake through a haze. 

“What?”

"Sit up, you gotta drink water." Jake held the glass up pointedly. "Or the hangover's gonna be bad tomorrow. Probably will be anyway."

The smaller man slowly crawled to a sitting position, keeping a death grip on the back of the couch. He held out a wobbly hand for the glass.

Jake sat down beside him on the couch, smirking. 

"You're not gonna drop it if I let you hold it, are you?" He held the glass out carefully.

“No, I'm good.” Piers said slowly, looking up at Jake. He smiled lazily. “I hope Thanksgiving is this much fun. I'm not going back home for it.” He looked very sad all of a sudden and stared glumly at the glass. “My parents don't even make the food. They just order it in.”

Jake shrugged and took a sip of the water, himself. 

"Not everybody can cook. I used to cook for my mom, or I wouldn't know how, either." 

Great, now he felt glum, too. He held the glass up close to Piers' mouth. "C'mon, at least sip a little. You're gonna have the headache from hell tomorrow otherwise."

Blushing a bit, Piers leaned forward to drink the water. He kept his eyes trained on Jake's. He looked up at him sadly.

“Will you make a pie this year? It can just b-be pumpkin...”

"Pie? Done," Jake said easily, doing his best not to tilt the glass too much or spill any. "From what Sherry says, Claire and Chris can burn salad, so I'm gonna go all-out and make all the good stuff."

Piers took another sip of the water and smiled.

“We usually come over to Chris's house for the holidays. I hope he doesn't burn down his kitchen until then.”

"It's really that bad?" Jake arched an eyebrow, moving the water over to take a sip as well. He held it back over for Piers again. "

"Maybe I'll get him a fire extinguisher for Christmas."

Piers laughed.

“He'd love that.”

The small brunette sighed and leaned back against the couch again, closing his eyes.

Jake glanced at him and sipped the water again. At least he'd gotten a few sips down. 

"Hey, Leon ordered pizza."

Piers reached over and grabbed the glass, sitting back up.

“What kind?” He mumbled, directing the water over to sip on it.

"No idea. I gave him some ideas, but I don't think he was listening," Jake said, letting his hand get pulled along still holding the glass. He glanced at the door to the bedroom. 

Hopefully Sherry was sleeping easy now that she wasn't worried about whatever she talked about with Leon.

Piers took a long drink from the glass, narrowly missing spilling it on himself. He let go of it and scooted up against Jake to give him a one armed hug.

“Thanks.”

"No problem," the redhead said, looking down at him thoughtfully. Piers seemed pretty lonely. What, did his girlfriend never even hug him? He wrapped an arm around the brunette's shoulders in return, drinking the rest of the water in the glass. "Hey, how'd you meet Sherry? Did Chris introduce you?"

“I met Chris after the Air Force, then I met Claire and she heard that I was looking for a roommate and hooked me up with Sherry.” He paused and shifted to leaned his head against Jake's shoulder, mumbling. “Not like t-that, but...you know.”

Smirking, the redhead patted his shoulder with the arm still around his back. 

"Gotcha. I'm pretty surprised she'd set Sherry up to share a place with a guy," he admitted, glancing down at the brunette. "Maybe because you had a girlfriend."

“No, she thinks I'm gay.” The shorter man said quietly. “Even with the girlfriend.”

"Oh, right." Jake finished the water and tossed the glass down onto the pillows idly. "Why's she think that?"

There was a long pause, then Piers shrugged a shoulder.

“I think it's because I remind her of her brother or something... And Sherry told her that me and Rachel are having, er, bedroom issues.” He finally loosened his hug around Jake and looked up at him with rosy cheeks. “Mostly that we don't ever make it to the bedroom.”

"There's more reasons for that than bein' gay," Jake said mildly, sitting up and studying his face. Did the alcohol make his cheeks so pink? Why was that so cute? It wasn't like HE was gay, he had Sherry. "Gay's not the end of the world, though, either," he added, shrugging.

Those big gray eyes suddenly teared up and Piers hugged him again.

“It is to my family. T-they're all military.” He said sadly, resting his forehead on Jake's shoulder again. “They'll p-probably disown me and then I'll end up homeless and eating c-cardboard.” The brunette sobbed.

"What? Military doesn't mean they're assholes. Look at Chris," Jake pointed out, a bit startled. It could just be the vodka speaking, but seeing Piers crying had about the same response as seeing Sherry crying. That was to say, he immediately felt protective of the little brunette, hugging him and rubbing his back. "C'mon, if they know you at all, they probably already have a clue about this."

The short man looked up at him with tear filled eyes.

“I m-meant eating cardboard.”

"You've got your own job," Jake reminded him, bothered by the teary eyes. Yep, like a puppy. He pulled Piers closer, hugging him again. "And you live with Sherry. Even if they threw a total shitfit, she wouldn't let you end up on the streets, and neither would I. Okay?"

Piers snuggled up against him and nodded. He regained his composure, wiping at his face with a hand. 

“Sorry for being whiny. Maybe I am gay...”

Leon passed through the room, giving Jake a raised eyebrow as he disappeared out of the door. Most likely to cut the pizza guy off before he rang the annoying wolf howl doorbell. 

"If you are, you are," Jake said, glancing at Leon as he passed. To Piers, he added in a stage whisper, "If Leon asks, we'll just blame the vodka and say we're gettin' all choked up over how much we love pizza."

Piers nodded, taking him completely seriously. He let go of Jake and crawled off of the couch – wobbling back over to settle into the blanket nest again.

Leon stepped back inside with a stack of several pizza boxes.

“Is anybody hungry?”

"Hell yes. Pizza is amazing," Jake replied with a smirk, getting off the couch and heading for the blond. "Tell me there's pineapple and Canadian bacon in one of those boxes."

Leon sat the stack of boxes into Jake's arms and promptly went to drag Piers back to the couch.

“No, no. I promised Sherry you wouldn't sleep on the floor.”

“But where are you going to sleep?” The short man asked tiredly.

“On the floor.”

"He's not sleepin' on the floor, he's sleepin' on pillows," Jake clarified, frowning at Piers being dragged anywhere. 

Piers laid down on the couch and patted the cushions.

“We'll both fit.”

“First, you need pizza and more water.” Leon ducked into the kitchen, returning quickly with a water pitcher from the fridge. “Okay.” He took a seat beside Piers and poured him a glass of water. The blond man beckoned Jake over.

"We won't all fit on the couch," Jake said drolly, but came over and somehow managed to fit himself onto the other side of the couch beside Piers. "We already had water--bring on the pizza."

“You're sleeping upstairs.” Leon stated, sitting a glass of water into Piers's hands. The brunette drank it slowly, looking between the two of them.

“Did we get sausage pizza?”

"You sure?" Jake turned to Leon, holding up his hands. "When we both wake up hung over as hell, wouldn't it be nicer to let Sherry have the upstairs bathroom all to herself?"

It would be nice to wake up next to her, but if throwing up was involved...

“So, all of us have to share the bathroom down here?” Leon asked dubiously, opening the top pizza box. “That doesn't sound like fun.”

Piers snagged a piece of pizza too.

“Seriously. The floor is okay.”

Leon shook his head.

"Out here you can get outside without jumpin' out a window," Jake replied drolly, also reaching for pizza. "I can sleep on the floor if it's a big deal. I was layin' down there earlier anyway."

“Chris's bed is huge. It seems like a waste.” Leon said around his pizza slice. Piers nodded.

“Okay, I'll go sleep upstairs--”

“With Sherry?”

“Yeah.”

They looked at each other and Leon raised an eyebrow.

“I think Jake might have a problem with that.” There was a pause, then they both looked at Jake.

The redhead scowled. 

"Fine, I'll go upstairs and we can puke together tomorrow." He stood up and snagged a couple more slices of pizza, heading for the stairs. "Don't make Piers sleep on the floor," he added over his shoulder.

Leon toasted his direction with a piece of pizza.

“We'll both sleep on the couch.”

\--

Chris's head hurt. He vaguely became aware of it before something else caught his attention.

Someone else.

He was laying on his back on a futon with a devilishly handsome man pressed up against him. Chris's memories were a little fuzzy, but Wesker had made an impression. The blond's hair was no longer slicked back like the night before. It was tussled and very soft looking. While Chris was still wearing most of his fireman's costume, Wesker was back to being only in his pajama pants. No slippers, shirt or shades. Jesus.

**Author's Note:**

> This is a silly, fun RP story BeingCouy and I wrote around this time last year. We figured we'd post it so others could be amused, as we still find it funny a year later. We could be biased.


End file.
